Radial turbine blade system

ABSTRACT

A radial turbine blade system comprised of airfoils forming a circular array on a disk or series of disks around a central opening which serves as the exhaust outlet. Single or multiple sections comprised of a circular array of airfoils on a disk are arranged along the central axis. Nozzles direct high velocity mass flow fluids between the disks and onto the leading edges the airfoils. Three forces are used to convert the high velocity mass flow to mechanical output. First, is the shock effect of high velocity particles striking the leading surface of the airfoils. Second, is the lift force vector produced by the fluid flow over the airfoils. Third, is the fluid motive force of the high velocity mass flow contacting the inner walls of the disks. The invention can utilize various types of fluid forces such as gasses produced from the combustion of fuel or steam.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Provisional application No. 60/303,844, Jul. 9, 2001.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

[0002] “Not Applicable”

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISK APPENDIX

[0003] “Not Applicable”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The field of the invention pertains to the blade systems ofturbine engines which transfer the energy from the mass flow of highvelocity fluids to a rotating mechanical device for the purpose ofperforming useful work.

[0005] Many existing turbine engines, such as those employed invehicular and aircraft power plants and stationary applications such aspower generation, exhibit inefficiencies and disadvantages due to a lackof ruggedness caused by relatively small and delicate bladeconstruction, a requirement for high operating pressures; therebynecessitating secondary steam processes when utilizing certain combustedfuel sources (i.e. solid matter such as wood), high operating rpm whichmakes a reduction gear box a necessity for most shaft outputapplications, friction losses from fluid flow against static surfaces,efficiency losses from relative fluid flow vectors across the bladeswhich move in a direction which does not vectorially contribute to thedirection of the rotation of the axial turbine blades, blowby whichallows fluid forces to transfer undesirably between mechanismcomponents, an inability to operate at extreme high operatingtemperatures, and a high cost of production. This invention has thepotential to eliminate or significantly improve upon all of theinefficiencies and disadvantages outlined above.

[0006] This invention utilizes a combination of the concepts of a smoothrunner surface for working fluid frictional contact and that of bladesprojecting axially from plural transverse runner faces. This type ofturbine blade system is a unique improvement upon the inventions of theFluid Propulsion Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,142, and the Turbine,U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,206, both of which were invented by Mr. NikolaTesla. Other patents (as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,679) havesought to improve upon these inventions by Mr. Tesla, but none havelived up to the potential of widely replacing both axial turbine andinternal combustion engines which are used in the majority of internalcombustion engine applications today. This invention seeks to revive thetechnology originally patented by Mr. Tesla and to provide a practicaland economical alternative to the majority of modern engines.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A radial turbine blade system which is comprised of airfoilswhich form a circular array on a disk around a central opening whichserves as the exhaust outlet. The longest airfoils extend from the outeredge of the disk to the outer edge of the exhaust opening. Due to thephysical necessity of incorporating enough opening area to allow for theexit of exhaust gasses, only a limited number of airfoils which extendfrom the outer edge of the disk to the outer edge of the exhaust outletare utilized. Smaller airfoils are interspersed in the remaining gapsbetween the longer airfoils. The number of arrays and different distinctlengths of the interspersed airfoils situated on each disk will varywith the size of the disks. Multiple sections comprised of a circulararray of airfoils on a single disk may be arranged side-by-side alongthe central axis (e.g. stacked) in order to increase the power output ofa single system. In a system comprised of a single disk and airfoilarray, as well as a system comprised of multiple disks and airfoilarrays, it should be noted that an additional disk is always required onthe end to close, or complete, the system. In other words, there willalways be one more disk than the number of airfoil arrays. The radialturbine blade system rotates about the central axis of the disks.

[0008] Nozzles are used to direct the high velocity mass flow of fluidsbetween the disks and onto the leading edges the airfoils which extendradially from the central exhaust opening. The widths of the airfoilsand the disks are designed to be of minimum thickness, but must not bethinner than the outlet diameter of the mass flow nozzles. Designaccommodations for a turbine engine application which utilizes thisinvention must be made to affix the radial turbine blade system to arotating shaft for mechanical output while also allowing for the exit ofexhaust gasses. One possible method is to make one of the outer diskswithout the central exhaust outlet for the purpose of attaching arotating shaft and allowing the exhaust gasses to exit from the oppositeend opposite of the shaft. There are three forces which are used toobtain the efficient conversion of high velocity mass flow to mechanicaloutput in this invention. First, is the shock effect of the highvelocity particles striking the leading surface of the airfoils; thismay be simply explained as the paddle wheel effect. The second force isthe lift force vector produced by the fluid flow over each individualairfoil. The third force is the fluid motive force of the high velocitymass flow contacting the inner walls of the disks. These forces all actin a way which contributes to the rotational output of the invention.The invention can utilize various types of fluid forces as the motivemeans such as the gasses produced from the

[0009] combustion of a fuel source (liquid, solid, or gas), or steam.The invention incorporates a structural configuration which permits itsconstruction of advanced composite materials, providing for operation athigh temperatures, thus increasing overall efficiency. An engineproduced with composite materials would also have a high power to weightratio, thus further increasing efficiencies for locomotive applications.This type of radial turbine blade system can be incorporated into anengine which operates at relatively low pressures, which decreases oreliminates the requirement for the utilization of a secondary compressedair process in a liquid or gaseous fuel internal combustion engine. Inan engine which uses solid fuels, such as biomass, an engine whichincorporates this invention could operate without the requirement of asecondary steam process to produce the requisite mass flow to propel theturbine system. An engine which utilizes this invention would have veryfew moving parts, thereby decreasing the manufacturing costs and makingthe engine low maintenance. Engines produced utilizing this inventionwould also require oil only for the shaft bearings. This would help tomake the engine more environmentally friendly as well as decreasingoperating costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0010]FIG. 1 is a cutaway of a side view of the radial turbine bladesystem.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a front view of the radial turbine blade system whichutilizes an arrangement of nine (9) blades (although the number ofblades is not fixed).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a cutaway of a side view of the radialturbine blade system wherein the mass flow of high velocity fluidstravel through a nozzle 3 and impinge upon the leading edges of theairfoils 1, 2 which are arranged in a circular array in between two ormore disks 4. By means of traveling across the airfoils 1, 2 which aresituated between two or more disks 4 the fluid motive forces aretranslated into mechanical energy by causing the turbine blade system torotate about the axis located at the center of the disk 4. There arebasically three forces which cause the efficient transfer of fluidmotive force to mechanical rotational output which is used to performuseful work. First, is the shock effect of the high velocity particlesstriking the leading surface of the airfoils 1, 2; this may be simplyexplained as the paddle wheel effect. The second force is the lift forcevector produced by the fluid flow over each individual airfoil 1, 2. Thethird force is the fluid motive force of the high velocity mass flowcontacting the inner walls of the disks 4. The fluids exhaust through aninner opening 5. FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of a radial turbineblade system which utilizes 9 blade sections (the number of sections isnot fixed). Multiple blade sections are used to tailor the power outputof the turbine blade system to meet the requirements of a particularapplication. The widths of the airfoils 1, 2 and the disks 4 aredesigned to be of minimum thickness, but must not be thinner than theoutlet diameter of the mass flow nozzle(s) 3. The invention can beincorporated into a turbine engine which produces shaft output byconnecting a drive mechanism to one of the outermost disks 4, whilestill allowing for the exit of exhaust gasses through the outlet 5. Onepossible method is to make one of the outer disks 4 without the centralexhaust outlet 5 for the purpose of attaching a rotating shaft andallowing the exhaust gasses to exit from the exhaust outlet 5 on theopposite end. Due to the physical necessity of incorporating enoughopening area to allow exhaust gasses to exit 5, only a limited number ofairfoils which extend from the outer edge of the disk to the outer edgeof the exhaust outlet are utilized 1. Smaller airfoils are interspersedin the remaining gaps 2. The embodiment of the invention depicted in theillustrations shows a single row of larger airfoils 1 and a single rowof smaller airfoils 2. For applications which require a larger size disk4 the number of circular arrays and the sizes of smaller airfoils 2 canbe increased in order to insure that fluid motive energy is not wasteddue to large gaps between the airfoils 1, 2, thereby decreasing thesystem efficiency.

I claim:
 1. A rotational radial turbine blade system for translatingmotive energy comprised of airfoils which form a circular array on adisk or series of disks around a central opening which serves as theexhaust outlet. The longest airfoils on each disk extend from the outeredge of the disk to the outer edge of the exhaust opening. Smallerairfoils are interspersed in the remaining gaps between the longerairfoils. The number of longer airfoils and length of the longerairfoils varies depending on the size of the disk(s). The number ofsmaller airfoils and the number of arrays of distinct lengths of smallerairfoils varies depending on the size of the disk and the application.Multiple sections may be arranged side-by-side along the central axis(e.g. stacked) in order to increase the power output of a single system.The radial turbine blade system rotates about the central axis of thedisks. Nozzles are used to direct the high velocity mass flow of fluidsbetween the disks and onto the leading edges the airfoils which extendradially from the central exhaust opening. The airfoil array and disksystem combined with at least one nozzle between each disk spacing, withthe nozzle outlet positioned in line with each airfoil array, comprisethis claim.